


The Hordes of War

by Archer_Willows



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Character Death, F/M, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:42:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26394349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archer_Willows/pseuds/Archer_Willows
Relationships: Canon Relationships - Relationship, Minor or Background Relationship(s), OC/OC, Original Female Character/Original Male Character





	The Hordes of War

**Look, I wanted to be a half-blood.** Whoa, step on the brakes. I’m not Percy. I’m Grant Frier, and I’m just a kid. Fourteen years old, blonde with blue eyes, and a huge geek. Specifically a Percy Jackson geek, given that I’ve read every book over ten times. Now, you’ll all be thinking that Camp Half-Blood isn’t real, and that this is just another fantasy. Good! That’s a good thing to believe. But that’s just it. Do you _believe_ in the impossible? Because that’s what my story is.

It started out as an ordinary spring day. Get up, get ready for school, eat breakfast and go. I walked to school every day, so I never had to wait for a bus or anything. It was the last week of school. I was excited for the summer. I had no idea what kind of shit I’d be getting into.

Today, I was just walking the usual way, when something strange caught my eye. Over in the park, there was a strange blue light by the swings, pulsating. Now, in any story of all time, this is the part where you’re supposed to walk away. For the sake of me being an idiot, I approached the center. The light came from a glowing blue ball of energy. A dark shape moved around in it. A hand shot out of the ball. I could’ve sworn I’d heard the words “Help me!” come from inside. I tried pulling on the guy’s hand, but it wouldn’t budge. I wasn’t anywhere near strong enough. Being a Boy Scout, I always carried rope with me. I tied a few knots and lashings around the man’s hand until it was secure. I tied the other side to my leg and began to run in the opposite direction. 

Eventually, I pulled the man free, before realizing he wasn’t a man. He didn’t have legs, and his skin was an odd ghostly white. The blue energy had dissipated.

“Thank you for freeing me, my boy,” he said in a thick, gravelly voice. “For a deed like that, I feel I should reward you.”

I furrowed my brow. “Are you a genie?” I asked.

He frowned and facepalmed. “No, I’m not a genie. Why does everyone always ask that? I’m a Lucidian, my boy. I have the power to make people’s wishes a reality.”

“Sooooo, you’re an off-brand genie.”

He slapped himself again. “I’M NOT A GENIE!” He exclaimed. “But yes, I suppose I have similar powers. Though I never really understood genies. They give you a wish, tell you to wish for anything you want. Then they twist it around for you. Like you ask to jump high, and he turns you into a frog. Wh-what? Why? Who benefits from this? The genie?”

I thought for a moment. “Did you just make a Phineas and Ferb reference?”

He frowned. “No,” he said, “why?”

“Nothing,” I said quickly. 

“Anyway,” he continued, “I’m not like that. For one, I don’t just give people wishes for no reason. Can’t have people who don’t earn their dreams by their own merits wandering the world. Second, I make sure the wish is carried out in full. That means, I know exactly what the person means once they wish for something. If you asked _me_ to jump high, I’d make you have some really powerful acrobatics when it comes to jumping. But I think you deserve three wishes. You can summon me anytime you want when you’re ready to wish, just say my name. Jemeralgan.”

I nodded. “Can I use my first wish now?” I asked, nervous, but a plan was forming in my head. 

He nodded. “Anytime, my boy. But there is only one more thing I require from you before I grant your wishes.”

My spine chilled. “That is?”

He chuckled. “Oh, nothing bad. Just a story. Who you are, your friends, and most importantly, your dreams.”

So I told him. About my rocky relationship with my family, my only escape from my troubles being books, especially Percy Jackson. 

He smiled. “You have powerful dreams, Grant Frier. Now, you wish to ask for a gift from me. What is it?”

I smiled just thinking about it. “All my life,” I started, “I’ve been living a plain life. A normal life. I read fantasy books to escape, but it also made me sadder, because my life would never be a dream. So I ask for my biggest dream to come true, and here it is. I want the entirety of the Percy Jackson series, and all sequels, spinoffs, and companions canon to its universe be real. And I want to be a part of that. I want to be a half-blood, the son of a Greek god who I most identify with. I wish to be attacked by monsters tomorrow, but escorted to camp and survive. At the campfire, I will be claimed. Is that all clear?”

He smiled and nodded. “Interesting. You ask for a good thing, but something that could hurt you in the long run. Your taste for adventure, it itches you to take risks. I appreciate that.”

He spoke an incantation. A cold, harsh wind blew over me. I didn’t feel any different. 

“I bade you farewell, Grant Frier,” he dismissed, “for now.”

He disappeared in a burst of white dust. 

I looked around, hoping what had happened wasn’t a dream. I did my reality checks to make sure. I wasn’t dreaming, all right. I then realized I was late for school. I began to run off. I’d deal with my parents later. If I was late, they’d be beyond mad. But whatever they did wouldn’t last. Tomorrow, I would be on my way to Camp Half-Blood. I smiled. All my dreams were about to come true. 

School that day was normal, or at least, normal for a school staffed by teachers who thought we were five and incapable of doing anything ourselves. 

My parents shouted at me when I arrived home because the school had called and told them I was late for school. I’d left on time and arrived late. They decided to ground me for a month. Yeah, a month, for being ten minutes late to school one day. 

Of course, I didn’t care. I wouldn’t see them for months after the next day. I would be in the place of my dreams. 

That night, my dreams became nightmares. 

I’d known from the moment I’d wished to become a half-blood that dreams would be dark and depressing, and that they were less of dreams and more of messages. But I didn’t think it would have happened so quickly. 

I was hovering throughout a dark room, where there seemed to be no floor or roof. There was only darkness. 

Suddenly, a dark, harsh voice rang throughout the darkness.

“Ah, Grant Frier. Jemerelgan’s chosen. You don’t seem to be much, but you’ll do nicely. That old traitor will pay for what he did. And you, _you_ will bring about that pain. I look forward to threatening you, Frier. Until then, enjoy your wishes.”

I woke up with a start. Lightning flashed across the night sky. Rain pounded on the windows as the wind thrashed upon the building. The power was out, but my watch said it was two in the morning. The storm raged outside, but it was nothing the building couldn’t handle. It had been in far worse situations than this. Suddenly, the wind picked up, and the building creaked and swayed. The walls cracked under the pressure of the storm. I got out of bed quickly and left the room. And not a moment too soon. As soon as I opened the door, the walls blew open and showed my room with shrapnel. If I had lingered only a moment, I would’ve been shredded. A dark figure flew in the hole, and I bolted. 

_I don’t know this monster,_ I panicked. I’d been a huge Greek nerd, yet I had no idea what this monster was. 

I ran as far away as I could, but the creature was faster. Lightning flashed, and I saw its face.

It was mutilated and clawed, sinew and bone holding together a face of rage. It’s blood-red eyes focused on me with loathing. Its face was so disfigured it didn’t look remotely like a face. It realized its hand, and a bolt of electricity formed in its hand like a javelin. He pulled his arm back to throw. 

Suddenly, the monster stopped and turned rigid. The electricity dissipated. The monster crumbled to dust. In front of me stood a girl, about 17 or 18, with honey blonde hair and intelligent gray eyes. In her hands was a glowing bronze knife. 

I knew exactly who she was.

“Are you alright?” She asked, looking at me. “Did he get you?”

I shook my head. “I-I…”

I was speechless. Despite my wish, the fact that Annabeth Chase, the _real_ Annabeth Chase, stood in front of me made me unable to move. 

“Hey, kid,” she said. I focused back on her, “well have time for explanations later. If you want to live, come with me.”

I had interest in living, so I followed her. 

She led me to a chariot behind a nearby building, with several winged horses harnessed to it. 

“Pegasi,” I said in awe. That settled it. Jemeralgan had come through.

Annabeth nodded. “Now let’s get back to camp before more monsters find us.”

I nodded and stepped in the chariot. “How’d you find me?”

She filtered her head as if pondering that. “We’ve been chasing this monster for a while. It’s been finding and killing half-bloods who hadn’t made it to camp for weeks. You’re the first to survive.”

My ears buzzed. “Camp,” I repeated, “Half-Bloods.”

She sighed. She probably dealt with this a lot. “We’ll fill you in at camp.” She started to fly the chariot.

When we were in the air, I found the nerve to ask, “So. I’m a… half-blood?” 

She nodded. “Short version: the Greek gods are real, and one of your parents was a god.”

No doubt she expected me to go crazy, or to keep asking questions. She jumped back when I started to laugh.

“So it’s true!” I laughed, “this is awesome!”

“You’re taking this awfully calmly,” Annabeth noted. 

I nodded, “And this camp we’re headed to,” I continued, “is it possibly called Camp Half-Blood?”

Annabeth’s hand drifted to her knife. “How did you know that?”

I chuckled. “You’re saying not a single person who came to camp had read the books? Oh wait, most of you are dyslexic. That would explain it.”

She frowned, “What books?”

I took a breath. “Okay, so there’s this author, Rick Riordan, right? He was a smaller author until 2005, when he released the first book in a five-book series, which would go on to have multiple sequel series and become one of the most well-known book series of all time. That book was entitled _The Lightning Thief_ , the first book in the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series.”

Her eyes widened. “Percy Jackson?”

I nodded. “That’s right. I know who he is, and who you are, Annabeth Chase. You see, ever since that series came out, the entire journeys of you, Percy, Grover, the 7, your cousin Magnus and _his_ friends. Styx, even your Egyptian friends Carter and Sadie have their own series.”

Annabeth’s eyebrows shot up in shock. “I think I’d know if-”

“There were books written about you?” I finished, my eyebrows raised. “Honestly, I know what you mean, but it’s true. I even brought one to reread with me because it might have been important. I dunno, I just thought it’d be important. I reached in my bag and pulled out _The Mark of Athena._

Seeing the cover, Annabeth’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what that says, exactly, but that image-”

“Two boys fighting on horseback. One of which is Percy, on his pegasus Blackjack. The other is, uh…” I stopped and glanced at her. It probably wasn’t a good idea to mention her dead friend, especially when she had a knife so close to me.

“Anyway,” I changed the subject, “You, Percy, and the rest of your demigod friends are all in these books. And in fact, I’d watch out for more kids of different mythologies. Rick Riordan _is_ working on an Irish series, so watch out for that.”

At that moment, we arrived at camp. It was exactly as I’d expected, a beautiful landscape bustling with life. Smoke drifted from the forges, and the glint of the sun reflected off the Athena Parthenos was almost blinding. The cabins were exactly as I’d imagined them, and I could feel the excitement drifting through camp. I sighed with relief. I’d dreamed about being here for years. 

Annabeth led me to the Big House, where she told Chiron about the monster, and how I’d already known about camp. He didn’t look surprised at all.

“Chiron, you don’t look different. Did you _know_ about these books?”

Chiron smiled slightly. He reached into a desk drawer. Inside was the entire Riordanverse collection. 

“Let’s just say that the author and I have had a sort of mutual communication.”

I stared. “Are you saying you have Rick Riordan on Iris-message speed dial or something?” I demanded, shocked.

He shrugged. “How do you think he got his information?” He asked. “I’ve been helping him to transcribe the journeys of the demigods for years. He’s not necessarily a demigod, but he has a strange power. When an event is received, he can see every detail and even sense the involved people’s thoughts. That’s how he made it all from the demigods’ perspectives.”

I just stared. Annabeth apparently had a similar reaction. I was escorted to Cabin 11, where I met with all the recent arrivals and Hermes kids. 

And yes, the Stoll brothers were there as well. After everyone left, I had an idea. I called, “Jemeralgan?”

Instantly, the wind picked up, and the not-genie appeared. “Hello, Grant,” he said, “back so soon?”

I nodded. “I’m ready for my second wish.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Already? Well I can’t blame you for wanting more. But I advise that you wait for the right time to use your last wish.”

I shrugged. I told him my second request.

An hour later, I was checking out the armory, when I heard a scream from the woods. Without hesitation, I grabbed a random sword and rushed to the top of the hill. A pile of gold dust was scattered next to a scorched tree just outside the border. Lying next to it was an unconscious girl. 

She was a young teenage girl, about my age. Her face was gentle and kind, with smooth features and a light and bubbly facial sculpture. Long brown-blonde hair tumbled over her shoulders and curled lightly. Her clothes were ripped, though I supposed that wasn’t too uncommon. Her eyes snapped open. They were a warm and bright emerald green. 

She looked around quickly, panicking. “Wh-where am I?” She panicked. She looked at me, confused and slightly angry. She opened her mouth to say something. I held a hand out and tried to calm her down. “Shhh, it’s alright. You’re safe now.”

She started looking around. “Safe? What do you mean? Who _are_ you?”

“I’m Grant,” I said calmly.

She started to calm down. “Addyson,” she replied. 

She frowned as she saw the camp in front of her. “Where am I?”

I took a deep breath. “This is going to sound crazy. But you’re not safe out there in the world. This is the only safe place for people like us. You have to be, if you got through.”

She studied everything around her: the cabins, the pine tree, the forges, even my own orange shirt. Her eyes widened. She started rubbing her temple. “No, this can’t be happening. It’s not real, it can’t be, I am _not-_ ”

“It’s going to be alright,” I reassured her, “this must be all very new to you, but-”

“But it’s _NOT_ new!” She shouted with surprising force. She was freaking out. “I know where we are, I know why I’m here, but taking it all in… that’s the hardest part.”

I understood something about her just then. “I think I know what you mean,” I said. 

Her expression softened. “You do?”

I nodded. “I only got here earlier today. When I got here, I realized that I knew everything about this place. I knew who I was, but that wasn’t all a good thing. The fact that all this was real, that was the hardest part.”

She frowned. “How did you know?” She asked.

I laughed. “It’s kind of stupid, actually. I just read Percy Jackson and all it’s sequels and spinoff stories like three times a year.”

She raised her eyebrows. “What a coincidence. I’m the same way.”

I nodded. I thought I was the only one in camp who knew about the books. As far as I knew, I was the only non-dyslexic demigod in camp. 

“Anyway, for what it’s worth, welcome to Camp Half-Blood.”

She smiled vaguely, as if she didn’t know whether being a demigod was good or bad for her yet. I realized she was still lying on the ground. I offered a hand out to her. She took it and pulled herself up. Her hands were surprisingly smooth and warm. 

“Who’s your godly parent, Grant?” She asked, but I just shrugged. “For some reason, I didn’t _get_ claimed when I arrived at camp. I'm hoping I get claimed at the campfire.”

 _I_ will _be claimed today,_ I thought, but I didn’t feel ready to tell anyone about Jemeralgan. 

She nodded understandingly. “What’s it like here?” She asked. “I mean, is it everything you thought it would be?”

I smiled at her. “All I dreamed it would be? Yeah. Yeah it is.”

She grinned. Her eyes lit up as she said, “How cool is this! We are at Camp Half-Blood _right now!_ It’s _real!_ It’s just awesome!”

I laughed. “It sure is,” I responded, and began to lead her into camp.


End file.
